1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates generally to a new form of data entry device for a data processing system. More particularly, it relates to such a data entry device especially adapted for a portable computer or computer terminal. The current invention also relates to an improved form of portable audio/visual equipment, such as cameras, microphones, monitors, remote controls and recorders. It further relates to telecommunications equipment such as telephones and emergency telephone (xe2x80x9c911xe2x80x9d) services. The current invention also relates to MIDI controllers. Most especially, the invention relates to attachment of any such devices to a user""s arm and/or hand.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
Most known keyboards used for computer data entry directly resemble the venerable xe2x80x9cQWERTYxe2x80x9d keyboard of a typewriter, consisting of a rectangular, planar cluster of depressible buttons usually mounted on a unitary plastic housing; such keyboards may be physically separate from the computer to which they input information, as in the case of desktop computers, or they may be one part of an integrated product, as with most laptop computers. In using such a keyboard, the fingers of the user""s left and right hands access their respective keys in a manner which is essentially symmetrical.
Most attempts at making the computer data-entry keyboard more compatible with human physiology and preferences, such as U.S. Pat. No. to 5,424,728 to Goldstein and U.S. Pat. No. 5,410,333 to Conway, have simply involved new variations of this same old typewriter concept. As such, they offer, at best, a smaller amount of the same problems, namely: (1) immobility, binding the user to a desk and a chair, thereby eventually causing physical fatigue and strain of the user""s back, neck, shoulders and arms, and (2) unnatural physical interface between user and device, causing stress and contortion of the hands and wrists of the user, which may result in health problems such as carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, etc.
Other designs, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,573 to Retter and U.S. Pat. No. 5,270,709 to Niklsbacher, have attempted to provide an input device which is more suitable to the human hand. These designs provide some sort of palm supporting structure upon which the hand can rest, thereby decreasing some of the strain to the user""s hands, wrists and forearms. However, these designs do nothing to alleviate the immobility problem described above, and they introduce yet another problem: the necessity of learning a new way to type and a new feel for the keyboard. In other words, such new designs suffer from a lack of user-friendliness; they are counter-intuitive for the modern computer user.
Still other designs have maintained a certain amount of user-friendliness while alleviating some of the unnaturalness of hand and finger position which traditional keyboards necessitate. The pyramid design disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,426,449 to Danziger provides at least a small hand-supporting structure and an advantageous key placement while remaining relatively intuitive in terms of operability. It also provides, apparently as an afterthought, a way to dangle the entire keyboard from a user""s arm, presumably for portability. This attachment, however, through which a desktop keyboard simply hangs out from under the user""s arm instead, is too awkward and cumbersome ever to be realistically used or usable for genuinely portable purposes. Thus, this design still forces the user to sit at a desk, again causing the back, neck and shoulder strain and discomfort implicit therein.
A similar afterthought approach to resolving the problems which arise when users are bound to a desk appears in U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,786 to Rader. That design simply shifts the data input device from desktop to armrest, perhaps an improvement but not a solution.
The only prior full-size computer or keyboard design which makes a realistic attempt at genuine mobility is that of U.S. Pat. No. 5,416,730 to Lookofsky. Conceptually, that design is simply an overgrown wristwatch calculator; indeed, the only prior art to which the Lookofsky patent document refers are the wristwatch disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,255,801 to Ode et al, and the wristwatch calculator disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,141,074 to Popper. The Lookofsky design makes no attempt to change the means of input itself or otherwise to accommodate the purpose of portability, adding nothing to the prior art but a bigger wristwatch calculator which holds more processing hardware and a bigger monitor. Thus, in the Lookofsky design, a standard computer keyboard is strapped to the user""s arm. The readily apparent drawback of such an approach is that it forces the userxe2x80x94unless he is a contortionistxe2x80x94to access all keys of the keyboard with but one hand, just as one uses a smaller wristwatch calculator or any of the xe2x80x9chandheld PC""sxe2x80x9d which have recently flooded the marketplace.
Ultimately, the problem which plagues all prior post-QWERTY keyboards is this: while they may create small gains in comfort and/or efficiency of movement, these gains are insufficient to justify the effort and expense on the part of the consumers expected to buy and learn to use such new devices. Thus, these products never attain acceptance or common usage. Only a device whose advantages represent a quantum leap in computer or keyboard design will successfully overcome consumer inertia and bring the health and mobility benefits of a post-QWERTY input device to the mass public.
The Key Palette, disclosed herein, is such a quantum leap. It is more portable and mobile than any computer or keyboard design which allows the user to use both hands, and it is easier to use than the wristwatch calculator designs or the handheld PC""s, which can only be accessed with one hand (and are often accessed with one finger). Thus, in maximizing the twin goals of portability and accessibility, the Key Palette represents the twenty-first century alternative to the nineteenth-century keyboard and its various modifications.
Known portable monitors include those which are worn over one eye like a monocle or half-pair of sunglasses. Such xe2x80x9cvisor monitorsxe2x80x9d are used by ViA Inc., Northfield, Minn., in conjunction with that company""s new belt-mounted computer system. Such monitors are not ideal in that they make the user look like a space alien and they obstruct the user""s vision. The long-term health effects of this one-eyed approach are also uncertain.
Other known portable monitors include those appearing on wristwatches, wristwatch calculators and the Lookofsky arm-mounted computer. These monitors are not ideal in that they require the user to hold his arm at a particular angle in order for the monitor to be viewed optimally. One other portable monitor is that which comes attached to some home video cameras made by Sharp. The current invention provides a monitor which is more fully mobile, adjustable and easier to carry than prior portably monitors and is thus ideally suited for use with voice-recognition or pen tablet data input systems.
Myriad handheld tape recorders, microphones, TV remote controls, wireless and cellular telephones, and video cameras are known. MIDI controllers/keyboards are known. The present invention is novel with respect to these devices in that it performs the functions of such devices with greater ease and mobility and allows xe2x80x9chands freexe2x80x9d carriage. In the case of portable cameras, the current invention also provides greater stability than is possible with known handheld cameras and camcorders.
Known means of attaching a mechanical or electrical device to a user""s arm are very straightforward: just strap the device on like a watch, as in Lookofsky, or dangle it from one""s wrist like a handcuff, as in Danziger. In such limited designs, a user who wants to revolve his watch or other device around his arm must twist the entire apparatus, thereby rubbing the device and band against his skin. The current invention provides a variety of means which allow a user to revolve arm-mounted devices fully or partially around his arm without anything rubbing against his skin. This invention also allows devices to be mounted in such a way as to enable them to swivel and tilt as well as revolve independently of the user""s arm position. Such total mobility and adjustability have been heretofore unavailable.
Garmin makes a personal navigation system which, through the signals of the Global Positioning System satellites, can determine the location of the unit within about fifteen meters. The current invention incorporates such capabilities with those of the Key Palette to create a unique system for emergency calls to xe2x80x9c911.xe2x80x9d
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved means of data entry which enables greater mobility, ease, comfort and efficiency of use than any prior keyboard-like device allows.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a self-contained computer which is more portable than any prior fully functional, fully accessible computer.
It is another object of the present invention to increase the productivity and convenience of computer users and other data enterers while also reducing the risk of health complications associated with usage of prior data entry devices.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a superior computer monitor, one which is more portable, adjustable and suitable for use with voice recognition and pen-based data input systems than any prior monitor system.
It is a further object of the present invention to enhance the performance and mobility of musicians who use MIDI while performing.
Another object of this invention is to provide a microphone, audio recorder, and/or camera which is more stable, mobile and easier to use than known audio/visual devices.
Another object of this invention is to provide various means of attaching electrical or mechanical devices to a person""s arm which are superior to any known means in terms of functionality, stability and range of motion.
Another object of this invention is to provide a wireless telephone which is more easily portable than any known telephone or radio communication device.
Another object of this invention is to provide a multi-media remote control and/or arm-mounted gaming device which is more portable and convenient than known embodiments of such devices.
Another object of this invention is to provide a system by which a user can call xe2x80x9c911xe2x80x9d for emergency help from almost anywhere more quickly and easily than ever before.
The attainment of these and related objects may be achieved through use of the novel key palette herein disclosed. A key palette in accordance with this invention is a data entry device for a data processing system, which comprises:
(a) an armpiece configured for attachment to a user""s first arm;
(b) a first keyboard portion extending from the armpiece and configured for positioning to be engaged by the user""s first hand of the first arm when the armpiece is attached to the user""s first arm; and
(c) a second keyboard portion mounted on the armpiece and positioned to be engaged by the user""s second hand of a second arm when the armpiece is attached to the user""s first arm.
In another aspect of the invention an apparatus for mounting a device to be controlled by a user on the user""s arm, comprises, in combination,
(a) an armpiece configured for attachment to a user""s arm;
(b) a movable coupling coupled between the device and the armpiece, the movable coupling having a configuration which allows the device to be swiveled, tilted or revolved by movement of the movable coupling while the armpiece is attached to the user""s arm; and
(c) a device mount connected between the device and the movable coupling.
The present invention is disclosed by reference to several drawings and through the detailed descriptions below. It represents a quantum leap in computer and computer input device design, making possible for the first time the full, comfortable, manual use with both hands of a computer while walking, reclining or sitting in any position without having to be near a desk or similar surface. As such, this Armpiece/Handpiece breakthrough not only provides unprecedented mobility and thus increased opportunity for productivity, but it also heralds an end to back, neck and shoulder strain which can arise from prolonged use of a desktop, laptop, or palmtop computer. Similarly, it relieves users of the one-handedxe2x80x94or one-fingeredxe2x80x94xe2x80x9chunt and peckxe2x80x9d approach required by handheld PC""s.
However, this invention gives rise to more variations on a theme than can be pictured herein. Thus, these drawings and descriptions are used only for purposes of illustrating the novelty of the present invention, certain embodiments and features of its many different forms, and some of the variations to which the invention is susceptible. Given such purposes, these drawings and descriptions are not an exhaustive collection of all manifestations of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention but rather to illustrate its many innovations. Invention is claimed of, without limitation, all the various alternative embodiments, variations, modifications, adjustments, versions, applications, recombinations and readily apparent extensions to which this invention and its novel features lend themselves, whether or not a given manifestation has been pictured or explicitly described herein, including but not limited to substitutions of one material for another, one type of joint for another, one type of fastener for another, one type of angle or curve for another, one key-to-symbol pattern or format (QWERTY, Dvorak, military, etc.) for another, and a fixed part for a moving part or vice versa:
Disclosed herein is a means of data entry, called a Key Palette, which may or may not contain stand-alone data processing hardware and which typically consists of two main parts, upon each of which are mounted a plurality of keys. The first of the two main parts, that called the Handpiece, sits in, fastens around or is held stably in close proximity to one hand of the user. The other of the two main parts, known as the Armpiece, fastens around or otherwise attaches to the user""s forearm. These two pieces are typically connected by an electrical cable and one or more small rod(s) called Connecting Rods.
Several keys for data entry are located on the Handpiece, positioned in such a way as to be accessible to the fingers and thumb on the hand of the arm which bears the Key Palette. The remaining keys are located on the Armpiece Key Housing, a component of the Armpiece; these keys are to be utilized by the fingers and thumb of the opposite hand. Separating the columns of keys are optional and/or removable partitions (hereinafter Guiding Walls), which eliminate the possibility of horizontal keystroke errors. A track ball, joystick, pen tablet, touch pad, and other such additions and extensions may also be mounted on the Armpiece Key Housing and/or Handpiece according to user needs and preferences. In self-contained computer models or network terminals, a monitor protrudes from the Armpiece; it may be hinged in such a way that it can be folded over the Key Housing when not in use. Various means of attaching the Armpiece Key Housing to the user""s arm are also disclosed: for instance, one type of Armpiece includes a tube which encircles the user""s arm; another design employs Radio-Ulnar Bars, Wristlock and Ring Tracks, described below in the following sections; still other designs use simpler means, such as straps.
In one principal embodiment, the Handpiece is contoured to fit the user""s hand and makes use of a unique arrangement of keys: the keys are set in columns aligned to the shape of a Compound Arc, which is described in detail below. This shape allows for exceptional naturalness, accuracy and efficiency of finger and hand motion. The shape of the remainder of this contoured Handpiece also facilitates its ease of use, including features such as the Palm Surface, against which the user""s palm rests so that his or her fingers fall naturally and effortlessly toward the proper keys, and the Thumbpiece, which surrounds a space to be occupied by the user""s thumb and upon which may be mounted keys or other user-accessible parts. Two surfaces typically contain no keys and do not contact the user""s hand. These two surfaces, known as the Half-Turn Rest Surface and the Full-Turn Rest Surface, are flat planes, so that the Handpiece can rest stably upon these surfaces on a table or desk.
An equally preferable design utilizes a Handpiece which is not contoured in the way as that just described but rather is modeled after the neck of a guitar. This design contains keys which are placed in the plane which corresponds to the guitar fretboard and are accessed similarly to the manner in which a guitarist accesses the strings of a guitar. This Handpiece design has the advantage of initially seeming more familiar to users than the contoured Handpiece.
A third type of Handpiece, the one which will be easiest to use for those who do not wish to venture far from the keyboard skills they already have, is also disclosed: in this design, the Handpiece is mounted on a Support Bar, typically projecting from the under side of the Armpiece, and comprises a planar keyboard which is suspended in such a way that it can be accessed by the hand bearing the Key Palette just as that hand would access a desktop keyboard; in short, this design is a piano-like Handpiece as opposed to the guitar-like or the contoured Handpieces.
Several embodiments of the Armpiece are disclosed, but three distinctive traits are common to most designs: (1) the Armpiece effectively replaces a desk with the user""s own forearm as support for the computer or input device; (2) the Armpiece provides a mechanism by which the housing of the keys themselves can revolvexe2x80x94and in some models, swivel and/or tiltxe2x80x94around the user""s arm so that the keys can remain accessible to the user""s opposite hand regardless of which direction the forearm which bears the Key Palette is turned; and (3) the Armpiece provides a stable foundation from which project the supports which suspend the Handpiece so that the Handpiece keys may be accessed by the hand which bears the Armpiece. This means of suspending keys in front of the hand is a crucial innovation of the Key Palette.
In some models, a battery or other power supply as well as a wireless transmitter and antenna may be mounted in or on the Armpiece or attached to another part of the user""s body. In other models, the various ingredients of an entirely portable, self-contained computer (microprocessor, monitor, ports, etc.) are mounted upon or within the Armpiece Key Housing or, alternatively, mounted elsewhere on the user""s body and connected to the rest of the device via cable or other means of transmission.
Dedicated Monitor Armpiece. Another alternative embodiment, ideal for use with voice-recognition input hardware and software as well as with pen-based systems such as the Apple Newton, is a design which includes few manual input devices and which may not include a Handpiece at all: the Key Palette with a Dedicated Monitor Armpiece.
This Dedicated Monitor Armpiece design replaces the swiveling, tilting and/or revolving Key Housings described above with a Swiveling Monitor. Thus, the user of such a Key Palette can adjust this Monitor to be viewed easilyxe2x80x94or written on, in the case of pen-based input systemsxe2x80x94no matter how his forearm is oriented. Attached to this Monitor may be a handful of typical monitor buttons and dials for brightness, contrast, etc., and/or other input devices, such as a microphone for voice input. Data processing and/or radio transmission/reception hardware can be mounted inside the Swiveling Monitor housing or elsewhere on the Armpiece or user""s body; a headset microphone or other voice input system may also be used with such an Armpiece.
A Handpiece need not be attached to this Dedicated Monitor Armpiece at all if the user needs no more means of manual input (for instance, if his voice recognition hardware and software can handle all of his needs). However, if supplementary manual input means, such as trackball, fingerpad, or special character or function keys, are still required by the user, these can be mounted on a Handpiece attached to the Dedicated Monitor Armpiece. Such a Handpiece, similar to aforementioned Handpieces, may be attached as in designs described above. This addition enables the user to hold and use all hardware with one arm and hand, leaving the other arm and hand free.
Simplified Handpiece. For Dedicated Monitor Armpiece users who only need a few keys, however, a Simplified Handpiece is used. While the above described Handpieces provide keys which are accessed by the fingers, the various Simplified Handpieces provide a manual interface wherein most keys are typically accessed by the thumb. Rather than being suspended between two Connecting Rods as most other Handpieces, the Simplified Handpieces are typically mounted upon a single Support Bar, so that the angle at which said Handpiece rests can be adjusted for maximum user comfort. Specific applications of the Simplified Handpiece approach include:
Dedicated Computer Gaming Joystick or Point-and-Click Device. This embodiment uses a joystick-like Simplified Handpiece.
Dedicated Dictation Device. A xe2x80x9cSpringyxe2x80x9d or Retractable Simplified Handpiece is used in conjunction with an Armpiece that houses a digital or analog audio recorder, microphone and speaker to serve simply as an arm-mounted, hand-activated dictation recorder. A significant version of this embodiment includes a Palm-Mounted Simplified Handpiece.
Dedicated Multi-Media Remote Control. A Simplified Handpiece is also used in conjunction with an Armpiece which bears miniature keys like those of a standard television remote control. This design functions for all forms of media remote control purposes (television, stereo, audio recorder, etc.). The Simplified Handpiece of such a model bears the most commonly used buttons or keys, such as the volume control and the channel-up/channel-down control. A full set of miniature alpha-numeric keys is also included on the Armpiece, making this unit ideal for use with PCTV""s and Internet TV""s.
Dedicated Wireless Telephone. The Simplified Handpiece in this model bears the traditional telephone buttons (0-9, # and *). It can be retracted into a slot on the Armpiece and is set on a spring so that it can pop out of this slot easily upon demand. The Armpiece is thin enough to fit under a person""s shirt sleeve and bears nothing but a speaker and microphone for usage as a speakerphone. A significant alternative includes a Handpiece which, unlike a Simplified Handpiece, is jointed in its midsection rather than its end and which includes an earpiece at one end and a mouthpiece at the other.
Key Palette Camera Device or Camera Support Unit. A Video Camera Handpiece is set on one or two rails grounded in the Armpiece so that it can be extended to the user""s hand and retracted when not in use. Pre-existing cameras can be so mounted by screwing them into the top of the unit as though it were a standard tripod, in place of the Camera Handpiece.
Mobile Audio/Visual Unit. Another embodiment of the Armpiece is that upon which are mounted specialized, directional microphones (such as shotgun mics) and/or a digital or analog camera and monitor. Each A/V component is mounted on a separate ball-and-socket joint or similar joint on a separate A/V Component Mount so that each component can tilt and swivel as the Swiveling Key Housings or Swiveling Monitors do. Furthermore, each A/V Component Mount is mounted on an independently revolving section of the Double Layer Tube or other arm-mounting means. A Simplified Handpiece may be used to control these components, or a separate controller to be held in the user""s other hand can be used instead.
Musical Key Palette. In the Musical Key Palette model, the keys of the above described Armpiece Key Housings are replaced with piano keyboard keys, turning the Armpiece into a swiveling, tilting and/or revolving arm-mounted MIDI keyboard.
Such a Musical Key Palette Armpiece may include a Musical Key Palette Handpiece. This Handpiece is typically shaped like the guitar-neck-shaped Handpiece depicted in FIG. 22A, but instead of including columns of character keys, it includes typically four to six rows of xe2x80x9cguitar keys,xe2x80x9d each row typically including four or five keys each. These rows correspond to the strings of a guitar, with each key corresponding to a particular fret on the given string. Thus, a user plays this Handpiece in the same way he xe2x80x9chammers onxe2x80x9d the frets of a guitar or bass guitar. Key/note information is again transmitted by MIDI. (Note: rows of keys which correspond to individual guitar strings can be separated by perfect fourth intervals, as in a regularly tuned bass guitar, or by major or minor thirds; minor third separation is especially well-suited for this device because it enables the user to assign one xe2x80x9cfretxe2x80x9d or column of keys to each finger, with each such column of keys separated by Guiding Walls.) The Musical Key Palette Handpiece can also be used separately. It can also be bowed slightly to accommodate lateral wrist motion. The xe2x80x9cfretboardxe2x80x9d can also be concave, similar to the shape of the Contoured Handpiece described above, so as to maximize accessibility of all keys.
Alternative Handpieces for the Musical Key Palette include: (1) a Joystick Simplified Handpiece, wherein pitch bend and vibrato MIDI information is input via moving the Handpiece along its x and y axes and wherein supplemental keystroke information, such as sustain or key transposition, can be input on-the-fly via the keys or buttons included upon the Handpiece; (2) a segment of a piano keyboard.
The Expandable Key Palette and the Key Palette Extension Piece. The total mobility of the Key Palette is not always needed by users Oftentimes, people simply want to set their computer up like a conventional laptop or desktop machine rather than have their computer attached to their arm. The Expandable Key Palette design allows users to have the best of both worlds. In this design, as in other designs, the Armpiece Key Housing is constructed so as to be detachable from the rest of the Armpiece and Handpiece. This design also provides, however, that the xe2x80x9celbow endxe2x80x9d of the Key Housing contain wired sockets into which a separate planar Key Palette Extension Piece plugs in. This piece, replacing the keys on the detached Handpiece, expands the Armpiece Key Housing into a full-scale standard laptop or desktop QWERTY keyboard.
This Expandable Key Palette renders standard laptop computers or wireless keyboards virtually obsolete, since such a Key Palette can alternately be used for unique Key Palette purposesxe2x80x94standing, walkingxe2x80x94by attachment of the Handpiece and detachment of the Extension Piece and then used as a standard laptop computer or wireless QWERTY keyboard by detachment of the Handpiece and attachment of the Extension Piece.
Alternative Expandable Key Palette designs include: (1) one in which the Extension Piece is essentially a tray which rests underneath the Armpiece Key Housing when the Key Palette is in arm-mounted use; (2) one in which the Extension Piece is hinged rather than detachable, so that it flips up to a position which is perpendicular to the face of the rest of the Key Housing when not in use.
Retractable Belts Arm-Mounting Means. In this design, separate belts used to wrap around the user""s arm are extended from and retracted into the Armpiece Mount by use of Extension/Retraction Levers. The Armpiece Mount is flexible so that it can rest flat on a desk when so used and wrap around a user""s arm when used for portability. The active components of the Armpiece (Key Housing, monitor, etc.) fit into grooves on the Armpiece Mount so they partial revolution around the user""s arm is possible. A similar Armpiece Mount is used to support both the Pommel. Horse and Horizontal Rails means of mounting active components, as well as those other such means mentioned above.
Dedicated Key Palette Bar Code Reader; Dedicated Magnetic Strip Reader and Printer. These specific applications of the invention are particularly helpful for the mobile user.
Key Palette Personal Alarm System and Personal Alarm System Device. This system takes advantage of the capabilities of the Global Positioning System and the new affordable, compact means of receiving and processing information received therefrom to provide a new level of safety to Key Palette users. Upon activation, the Device automatically calls 911 and delivers a pre-recorded message as well as the location of the unit so that this information can be relayed to emergency personnel, such as ambulance, police or firemen.
Each of these features is discussed in more detail in the following description, with references to the accompanying drawings. The Key Palette invention contemplates both left-handed and right-handed versions, as well as models with removable, plug-in Handpieces which allow the same Key Palette to be used interchangeably between left and right hand users. But most of the drawings depict a Key Palette on the user""s left arm.